Aromatic carbonates are typically produced by a transesterification reaction between a dialkylcarbonate and an aromatic hydroxy compound. This reaction is typically carried out in the presence of a catalyst to accelerate the transesterification reaction. Aromatic carbonates are useful as raw materials for the production of aromatic polycarbonates that are used as engineering plastics.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,334,742 describes a process for preparing diarylcarbonates by reacting dialkylcarbonates with phenol using conventional transesterification catalysts in a specific mass-coupled and energy-coupled combination of columns. The WO 01/00560 publication describes a process for preparing aromatic carbonates by gas phase reaction or liquid phase reaction of dimethylcarbonate with phenol in the presence of a titanium-silica catalyst followed by the liquid phase reaction of the prepared methylphenylcarbonate in the presence of a titanium-silica catalyst to produce the aromatic carbonates.